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Well “the boys” have their final tune-up on Thursday night when they play host to the Minnesota Vikings. This should be an interesting game even though in the opinion of this writer, I think the dress rehearsal was against the Texans. We probably will see very little of the starting units since opening day is right around the corner. If coach Phillips hold true to form, the last of the roster looks will take place before they cut down to that magic 53. In addition, I think the starters that are “banged” up need to heal before they take their opening day trip to Cleveland and go into the dog pound.

Unfortunately, we also will not get to see much of a kid that has a chance to be one of the most prolific runners the NFL has ever seen in Adrian “all day” Peterson. Now I know as Cowboy fans we share our true loyalty to our beloved Cowboys and everyone else is the enemy. I share those same sentiments as well, but I had the opportunity to see Mr. Peterson every Saturday when he played for my beloved Oklahoma Sooners. Yea, I know I have many University of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Baylor readers that come to this site and I certainly don’t want to rub any salt in any wounds. I just happen to live 17 miles from Norman, Oklahoma and grew up a “Okie” that also loves the Dallas Cowboys. I just won’t to say that even though he now plays for the Vikings, I have been a fan of Peterson every since he bolted from Palestine, Texas and became a star for the Sooners. In addition, over the years I have had somewhat of an opportunity to get to “AD” on a personal level as well.

Adrian Peterson was given the nickname “AD” by his mother when he was very young because he would be outside playing and would run everywhere he went. She said he never walked anywhere and that he is just ran all day. Peterson ran straight into the record books in his freshman season (not red-shirt freshman) but true freshman rushing for 1,925 yds and first team All-American. In addition, he finished 3rd in the Heisman Trophy balloting that same year. Even though he only played three seasons before going to the NFL he was OU’s third all-time leading rusher. After being selected 7th in the first round by the Vikings his combination of speed, strength, vision and a highly aggressive attitude toward contact, he has already been compared to the likes of past legends like Eric Dickerson, O.J. Simpson, Walter Payton, Bo Jackson, Gale Sayers, and Jim Brown. His accomplishments since coming to the Vikings include the single game rushing record of 296 yds on 30 carries against the San Diego Chargers.

There is a dark side to this story as well. Adrian came from a very troubled life style growing up. When Adrian was young he witnessed his brother shot to death in a gang shooting and his father went to prison for 12 years of Adrian’s life for various charges. Through all of that Adrian’s mother did everything she could to insure Adrian stayed on the straight and narrow. In speaking with Adrian on several occasions in the past he owes all his success to his mother and his various coaches. He would fly home almost every chance he had during his 3 years at Oklahoma to spend time with his mother and go visit his father in prison. Adrian has never let his success go to his head. He always carries that big wonderful smile, and always meets and greets anyone that wants to speak with him. That is a rarity in the NFL or in pro sports in general anymore. Now I know a lot of our Cowboys are very true to the fans, but there is a much higher percentage of players in the league that not only don’t really have loyalty to their respective teams but to the fans as well. I have always thought that was unfair because we pay good money each week to see our teams and then have players jump to other teams because more money is dangled in front of them.

Long gone are the days of Bob Lilly, Leroy Jordan, and Roger Staubach just to name a few, that played their entire careers with the Cowboys and never thought for a minute is the grass greener on the other side of the fence. Now, it is basically all about big business, huge marketing deals, and bottom lines. Still through it all we go every Saturday and Sunday and root for our teams because we love the game of football.